batery keeps dying while driving?? WTF, ANY1?

[1985GN]

ok guys here goes its kinda long but hopefully osmeone can point me in the right driection. about 3 weeks ago i took out my stock injecotrs so i had to move all the top plenum and all that tsuff tha you guys knew. it sat like that for a wek till my new injecotrs came. i put the new injectors and new coil pack and module in and hwen i went ot start the car it was dead. the batery had dies somehow during that weak it was sitting. i took the battery ot get tested and it was chot. put a new battery in and on my way car ran great for about a week and a half. then while driving hte other day the car started to stutter and the fule pressure would not go up when i got oni t. i turned the car off for a minute and it would not start up. we jumped it and i drive it home barely running. i figured it was the alternator so i replaced it charged the battery and hte car ran pretty good i drive it aorund all day fuel pressure went right up car felt great. next mroning i start it up go for a ride and it was bad again car suttered then just shut off while driving, battery is dead again. waht is causing the battery to drain while driving it?? or is it a drain while it is shut off? i cant figure out how when im driving it the battery goes dead adn the lights go dim and it just dies. all hte wires to the alterantor are fine and the alterantor is breand new since i thought that was the prob? battery was tested as well and the battery is fine and only 3 weeks old. anyone have any idea on where to look i cant divr around town wihtou it dying after a while. it dies even quicker with the lights on the car. ANYONE!!!! please im desperate and i cant take hte car anywehre without worrying. thanks again guys.

 

[Red Regal T]

When you turn the key to on, does the volt lite on the dash go on? If not, your battery will not charge. Check it!

 

[SilverSleeper]

First thing I would try is a new belt. It could be slipping. Make sure it is actually turning the alternator. Check voltage while running. It should be 12v at idle, and more like 13.5 and up while the motor is running.
Also check the tensioner to make sure it is taking up slack.
One other thing you can do.. check your volts light in your dash to make sure it is seated properly. This is a bad factory problem that causes the alternator not to charge properly.
The alt sees voltage from a feed going through the volts light in the dash. It will not charge if there is something wrong with that circuit. It feeds the alt through a plug at the back.
Start with the other ideas first, if they dont work you might have to rewire that circuit to get the alt to charge.

 

[terryk]

Yes, I quickly learned to look at the VOLTS bulb on start up or I was walking 10 minutes later.

I finally put a 470 ohm resistor in parallel with it so the damn alternator would charge the battery if the bulb went out or came loose (which is what happened to me).

 

[1985GN]

ok i just went outside and turned the key ot the on position. the service engine light and water temp light come on as always but i didnt see the volt light come on. what should i do from this point on. thanks for the help so far.

 

[1985GN]

now that i think about it last time i had the wire from the alterantor to the battery come un donw as the car started to die the volt light would come on. thorugh all these times that i wasbreaking down casue the battery was dying i never saw the volt light. now where do i go?

 

[SilverSleeper]

First of all.. undo the cluster and replace the bulb. See if will light when you turn the key on. If it lights, then see if the car will run and check your voltage while its running. Make sure you have a good connection on the plug going to the alt also.

One thing you can try is to bypass that light. Run a wire from the fuel pump prime connector behind the alt. Use a 1k ohm resistor or a bulb on the wire, and get a repair alt plug from an auto parts store and wire it together. Plug that in and see if your battery is getting charged.

BTW, do you have a voltmeter? It would help you out a lot in trying to trace down an electrical problem.

 

[Red Regal T]

Remove your faceplate to access speedo case. There are four 7mm capsrews on the speedo case. One in each corner. Take them all loose so you can shift the speedo case around. Have the key turned on and see if you can get your volt lite to go on as you jiggle the case around. If it does, try to clean up the plug best you can and when you re-install the case, make sure the light stays on when you tighten up the four 7mm screws.

 

[1985GN]

ok i just went outside to play around with it and here is where im at. i took all the bolts out oi could see and i still cant get the gauge cluster to come out so i can get behind it. i tried wiggling it all around to see if i could get the light to come on and it didnt. i checked the bulb the bulb is good. now how can i get to behind all this mess to clean or fix whatever is broekn. is there anyway i can just say screw this and make up my own set-up? if so what is all the parts i will need and how and where should i run it all? thanks for the help so far i hope to get his licked soon.

 

[Red Regal T]

To get the cluster out, you have to disconnect the speedo cable from behind it. If you can feel the cable where it goes in the cluster, there is a clip you need to push down toward the cable to release the cable from cluster housing. I'm surprised you can't get the light to come on while shifting the housing around. Maybe someone can chime in with an alternate fix.

 

[1985GN]

when i get hte cluster out what am i looking for? some kind of wire connected to the area where the light is?? just give me some insight on waht im gonna be looking at and looking for, thanks again

 

[1985GN]

anyone have anymore ideas?

 

[87 Pete]

Originally posted by 1985GN
anyone have anymore ideas?

I had this exact problem last month.

It turned out that the copper connectors between the dash and the cluster weren't making good contact, and as a result, my VOLTS light, and BRAKE light weren't working.

After you remove the cluster, try bending the copper contacts (ones on the dash) out slightly, and/or rough them up a bit with 600 sandpaper, so there is good contact.

After I did this all the lights worked fine, and my battery stays charged.

Pete

 

[1985GN]

ok here ius an update on the prob. i went out today and got a 1k ohm resistor i tied inbetween the brown wire coming off the alternator to the power lines going to the gauges i have since it leads in to the fuse box wehre the ignition fuse is. charge teh batter up and go for a spin. again the cars starts sputtering and then the guages shut off and have no power and the car starts to die. i get in front of my house try to start it up and its dead. i take the wire i had going to the guage power wire and put it directly in the fuse box with the ignition fuse. again i jump the car and let it idel so that it can charge itself, but instead after about 2 minutes of idling it dies out and battery si dead. what am i doing wrong?? i noticed that with the resistor with the key on i have power in the line going from the fuse box to the first part of the resistor but no power after the resistor going into the alternator. with the engine running i have power still in the first part of the wire but no power in the second part of the wire?? waht am i doing wrong here? help!!!! thanks guys

 

[1985GN]

the 1000 ohm resistor that i got looks kinda weird though. it has pieces of waht look like wood and i have to attach the wires i ahve to the metal rod ends of the resistor? i thought the resistor would ahve had wire ends to that i can just twist them together? can i try running no resistor at all and see of the battery charges? thanks guys

 

[Steve Wood]

Do you have a volt meter or a scan tool?

When not connected to the alternator, does the wire coming from the resistor have voltage in it? (key on)

 

[1985GN]

the wire going from the fuse box to the resistor has power in it with the key on, the wire going from the resistor to the back of the alterantor does not have power going to it.

 

[1badTTA]

since nobody has really mentioned it, check all your grounds including the battery to block. Since you were messing with the intake, I would start there.

 

[1985GN]

ok i will take a look at hte ground wires and the battery cable too. the battery cables are fairly new though so i dont think its them but ill look anyway. any one know if my bypass is working right? couldnt i just run a straight wire from teh ignition to the back of the alternator plug to see if it will charge then? thanks guys

 

[Steve Wood]

Originally posted by 1985GN
the wire going from the fuse box to the resistor has power in it with the key on, the wire going from the resistor to the back of the alterantor does not have power going to it.

Again, does it have power at the other end when it is not plugged into the alternator?